Advaita Vedanta: "EVIL"? or "IGNORANCE, STUPIDITY, and INSANITY"?, A Review with Additional Pointers, Part Twenty-One

A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU

323. It would seem that (a) if persons are certain that the cause of that which they do not approve of is "the evil in the world" and (b) if they believe that their religion or spiritual programs or movements can provide the means by which evil can be eliminated, then (c) it would seem that at some point they would look at what they believe to be the solution and (d) would begin to see at some point that the plan is not working.

324. They might not see it after persons with their same belief systems have practiced patience for one-hundred years or maybe for five-hundred years, but if they were sane, would they not begin to doubt the plan after one-thousand years of failure, or two-thousand years of failure, or five-thousand years of failure?

325. In fact, they do not believe that the plan will ever work, and the key factor is that they are involved with religion or spirituality for personal gain alone.

326. The personal gains include rewards now and rewards later (which they believe will last forever) and involve enjoying the perk of doing whatever they want to whomever they want (no matter how selfish or cruel or dishonest, relatively speaking) but then getting "a clean slate" by the mere asking. Stole money? No need to give it back ... just a need to say, "Dear Higher Power, please forgive me. Amen." Done.

327. It is the misery and suffering generated by all things "personal" that have motivated sages for millennia to warn persons about the consequences of personality identification.

328. If there were no personalities being formed, there could be no development of personality disorders. If there were no personality disorders, then there would be none of the serious personality disorders that can lead to a disintegration of psychic health which can result in the various levels of sociopathic or psychopathic conduct that are so prevalent among persons all around the globe.

329. The invitation here is to understand that the prerequisite for such acts is not "evil in the world" and it is not "evil in a person."

330. The prerequisites include being raised in a dysfunctional environment (and all home environments now are dysfunctional, the degree of dysfunctionalism being the only variable); and include:

331. identifying with self instead of "another" and then forming a primary personality style in response; and include:

332. being driven by an assumed personality's hidden desires and fears; and include:

333. developing the master and secondary addictions of humans (the master addiction being to control and the secondary addiction being to power in order to be able to control); and include:

334. developing a sense of having no control and no power; and include:

335. as a result of stress and a sense of personas feeling threatened, the suffering of psychic deterioration that can lead to fear, anger, resentment, and rage; and to a host of personality disorders; and to all sorts of neuroses and psychoses.

336. Those factors will eventually lead to a complete loss of the sense of Oneness and to being totally out of touch with (relative) realities and with Reality (that is, with both the Am-ness and the THAT-ness).

337. Is it any wonder that non-duality teachers have long invited persons to abandon body-mind-personality identification?

338. It takes years for personality to develop and then deteriorate to the point that persons feel no sense of the Oneness, no sense of the unicity, and no ability to understand Maharaj's pointer that "wisdom is knowing that I am nothing ... Love is knowing that I am everything."

339. It can take years to become "hard-hearted" and "violent"; however, the pace is accelerating: some counselors nowadays are seeing five and six and seven and eight-year-olds who are already showing clear evidence of the development of the Sociopathic Personality Disorder to a nearly full-blown degree.

340. One eight-year-old who has been suspended from school indefinitely for attacking fellow classmates and for threatening to burn down the school said that, at first, he wanted to kill his now-absent father who beat his mother regularly but - now that his mother is beating him - he wants to kill her, too. Ignorance gives rise to ignorance; stupidity gives rise to stupidity; and insanity gives rise to insanity. See? The child was not "born evil" and the child has not been "made evil"; the child has been driven into the depths of personality, and in his case, the sociopathic personality formed as a result of trying to adapt to a dysfunctional domestic environment (and that is exactly the way that ALL personalities and personality disorders develop).

341. That child, being raised in a predominantly Catholic family and community, is thought by many to be "possessed by evil forces and in need of an exorcism"; others outside the church who know him think, similarly, that there is something inherent within him that has made him "mean and cruel and evil"; but those that understand the actual facts know that he is not possessed by evil forces and that he was not "born mean and cruel and evil."

342. They know that he arrived with no mind but that the effects of domestication (that is, of what went on in his dysfunctional home environment) inspired him to assume the Enneagram Type Eight Personality.

343. That personality type inspires the assumption of several personas, including "The Boss," "The Assertive One," "The Controller," "The Master," "The Confronter," "The Sociopath," "The Combatant," and "The Destructive One" as a result of wanting to have control and power in order to stop the parental ignorance and stupidity and insanity that he is having to deal with all day long, every day.

344. When there is no understanding of non-duality, there is no Realization; when there is no Realization, there is no sense of the Oneness; when there is no sense of the Oneness, there is no Real Love; and when there is no Real Love, there is instead ignorance, stupidity, insanity, judging, hatred, resentment, a sense of separate-from-ness, apart-from-ness, different-from-ment and - ironically - a sense of inferiority alongside a sense of superiority and better-than-ment.

345. That's not evil. That's insane. And that is why Maharaj made clear that his teachings were aimed at addressing and eliminating "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity" ... not "evil."

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

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[Received from Mac, 10/17/12]:

"Glad to see the online teaching offered at a discount. Hopefully, more who are ready will be able to take the course. For me, the course was the beginning of the unlearning that led to the trip to the lake for a retreat and the understanding."

SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM THAT WHICH DOES NOT WORK TO THAT WHICH DOES, Part One

A "movement" or "shift" happened here that added another parallel to the many parallels in terms of the phenomenal "experiences" and the noumenal revelations that "Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj" and "Floyd" share in common. (Many visitors over the years have said that they also shared the same parallels with "Maharaj" and "Floyd" as well.) In the case of "Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj" and "Floyd": 1. both grew up in very poor families 2. both moved to populated areas to seek employment opportunities 3. both exhibited business skills that led to their opening and operating many businesses and to their having a large number of employees working for them 4. both succeeded financially 5. both became attached to accumulating; 6. both married and had a family 7. both were initially religious 8. both moved away from organized religion and became interested in "spiritual" matters, finding and following the teachings of a big name teacher (or, in "Floyd's" case, many big name teachers) 9. both had highly religious wives who were quite displeased with the shift away from religion and toward "spirituality" 10. both began to feel empty in spite of all of their "spiritual seeking" and in spite of all of their accumulated "spiritual knowledge";

11. both began to de-accumulate after both saw that they could survive quite well on a fraction of the income they had been making 12. both had wives who were unhappy when the de-accumulation stage was entered and both had wives who became unhappy about their husbands' focus on non-duality and who blamed their unhappiness on no longer having a religious husband (The facts be known, in both cases the unhappiness involved the fact that their husbands were no longer interested in - or willing - to work 80+ hours per week and that their husbands were no longer interested in accumulating wealth and possessions and providing the rich lifestyle to which their wives had grown accustomed) 13. both eventually came to see that the religious and spiritual states were also ego-states, and both saw that there are far more steps on the "path" to complete after reaching the religious and spiritual steps and after playing those roles which are the third of seven steps on the entire "path" 14. both "lost" their wives (one via "death," the other through divorce); 15. both accelerated their seeking; 16. both entered into the "forest dweller stage" 17. both Realized 18. both began to de-accumulate even more 19. both began sharing the teachings 20. for years, both answered questions in whatever order those questions were received, though both said that the movement from identification with the false "I" / "I's" involved an exact, step-wise manner of moving along a "path" that involved "going back" in the same (but reverse order) of the way they "came in" - that is, the way that the manifestation happened and the way that the consciousness was blocked through seven stages that resulted in their becoming identified solely with their false personas, with the content of the "mind," and eventually, with the body. But the most significant awareness that finally came to both after years of offering satsang and after having answered thousands and thousands of questions was this: After years of "Maharaj" offering satsang in his loft, and after years of "Floyd" offering satsang in meeting halls and in his home and via what one site visitor called "Floyd's electronic loft," this fact became obvious to both: "Maharaj" came to see in the 1970's and into 1980 and 1981 that his approach was not working and "Floyd" finally came to see the same.

21. Both saw that many who heard the teachings are not going to understand (Maharaj reporting that "only 1 in 100,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding) 22. both soon saw that even more than expected of those who heard the teachings were not going to understand (Maharaj modifying his "guesstimate" and reporting that "only 1 in 1,000,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding) 23. eventually both saw that even far more than expected of those who heard the teachings were not going to understand (Maharaj eventually concluding that "only 1 in 10,000,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding). And the failings were not the fault of seekers. A "one -in-ten-million" estimate is proof that satsang was not working for most seekers, and the evidence here lately is proof of the same.

Both "Maharaj" and "Floyd" invited seekers to focus on the exact, step-wise "path." Yes, during satsang, "Maharaj" sometimes alluded to the steps while discussing them in no particular order - but he never once laid out the steps in the exact order in which they had to be completed. That was not his teachings style or approach.

Therefore, another movement or shift is happening here spontaneously after reflecting on the more than two decades since the teachings were first offered here and looking at the results of Maharaj sharing pointers in his loft and looking at the results of "Floyd" sharing pointers in this electronic loft: Looking objectively at his results, Maharaj's satsang method of sharing - in the end and by his own admission (only "one out of 10,000,000") - did not produce the intended outcome.

Looking objectively at the results here when using an "electronic loft" satsang method of sharing has not produced the intended outcome nearly as often as any of the three "face-to-face" methods used with seekers by which they have been led through the seven steps in order. Here, the body is growing older, of course. Mahasamadhi could be taken today, or it could be taken in twenty years.

Obviously, that cannot be known. But the decision here has been made that whatever amount of the relative existence remains shall be spent in sharing the teachings in the ways that have been seen over the last 20+ years to be the most effective methods.

Looking back over the list of those that have truly received the understanding, it is seen that Robert R. read all of the books, then took the online Advaita course and then completed some face-to-face Skype sessions to receive the final clarifications required. It was seen that Mac read all of the books, completed the online course, and then attended a retreat where he was guided through the seven steps. Mac said that the online course work inspired him to attend the retreat in order to be able to receive the final "pieces." It was seen that Andy Gugar, Jr. read all of the books, then came here for a retreat and was taken through the seven steps in order, and then returned once more for the final clarifications required. After reviewing the shifts that happened with him after attending two retreats, he reaffirmed this past week his commitment to helping spread the non-duality, nisarga understanding as presented here. As a result of seeing what has "worked" during the last 20+ years of sharing the non-duality understanding - and seeing what had not "worked" as well - changes will be made.

SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM THAT WHICH DOES NOT WORK TO THAT WHICH DOES, Part Two

In "Part One," examples were given of seekers that were led to Realization not by satsang but by following the various protocols outlined farther down this page which provide the understanding in the step-wise, orderly, required fashion which moves seekers along a "path" that is as prescribed by Maharaj ... "going back" in the "reverse order" by which the consciousness manifested and became blocked.

However, conversations with some that just read the majority of the books have revealed that they certainly seem to have grasped the understanding and Realized as well. As a result of seeing what has "worked" during the last 20+ years of sharing the non-duality understanding - and seeing what has "not worked" as well - changes are being made. There are seven specific steps that happen when awareness-energy is "pulled" into a cycle of manifestation. When that energy manifests as conscious-energy, that formerly pure and unadulterated energy becomes "corrupted" (or "blocked" from seeing clearly) via programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, and brainwashing. Soon, there is a belief in the not-Real as a result of seven degrees of separation from an understanding of the Real. Using the method that was also employed by his contemporaries - a method which focused on offering non-duality pointers via satsang - Maharaj addressed questions in the order in which they were received. He might receive a question from a seeker at the third step and his reply would include what amounted to an invitation to move to the fourth step. The next question might come from a seeker at the first step, and the reply would include an invitation to move to the second step. The information offered to the second seeker would seemingly contradict what was offered to the first seeker, so visitors who have come here for decades have asked questions which showed how confused they were by the fact that Maharaj's statements to each visitor in his loft were "level-appropriate" yet were provided in no precise order, resulting in what seemed to be an inconsistent message. So the process overall was confusing in that seekers were told to follow the "path back" in the same way that they "came in," except in reverse order, but pointers were not given in a specific, step-wise order at all. Maharaj did recognize the seven steps that are taught here, but by offering the teachings in an order that was dictated by the order in which questions were received from seekers who were at different steps on the "path," the result was this: a pointer about moving beyond the fourth step might be followed by a pointer about moving beyond the first step, and that pointer might be followed by a pointer about how to move beyond the sixth step. The same was done on this site for seven years. The result is a collection of 1,800 or so essays discussing almost every non-duality topic that can be discussed, and the search button on the top right side of this page will now allow seekers with a question about a specific topic to find an explanation. That method, however, will never provide the manner in which the seven steps on the "path" must be transmitted and received in order to Realize Fully. An objective study of the history here of more than twenty years of offering non-duality pointers reveals this: seekers that were given pointers in the exact order in which they needed to receive them were the ones that Realized.

They read the books, then they completed the online course and / or completed seven Skype or telephone sessions or came here for a retreat (or watched the downloadable DVD version of an actual retreat, available below).

Some found that which they were seeking by reading the author's book that deal with non-duality subject matter. Via all of those venues, the steps are taught in their proper order. The essays available on this site will remain for those interested in searching for a discussion of a particular non-duality topic without charge, but the focus here until mahasamadhi is taken is going to be on offering the teachings in the step-wise fashion that has been seen to work.

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FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE: A Seven-Step Journey to the Absolute